The new WoW raid tier — the final raid in Legion, unless Blizz does a bamboozle — came out last week, and my guild (Knights of the Night, US-Duskwood/Bloodhoof-Alliance) was there!

Right now we’ve downed everything on Normal difficulty but Argus the Unmaker (the final boss); we probably would have gotten him this week if we extended our lockout. But our philosophy right now is kinda “after this there’s probably going to be a content drought until the next expansion,” so we’re in no particular hurry.

So, observations:

– We got the server-first kill of Garothi Worldbreaker (the first boss) on Normal. This is not a particularly notable accomplishment; it just reflects that we raid on Tuesday night. We have since been surpassed by most of the heroic raiding guilds that update their stats to warcraftlogs (and the one mythic raiding guild on our server).

– On Felhounds of Sargeras, this exchange happened:

“They’re good dogs, Illidan.”
“But are these puppers, doggos, or woofers?”
“The purple one is a doggo, and the other one is a woofer, clearly”
“Apologies for asking such an obvious question.”

– Also the Felhounds make noises that remind me of the hounds in Don’t Starve.

– I wonder how many groups have wiped to the SURPRISE BOSS that spawns right in front of a teleporter.

– Eonar’s tower defense game is kinda fun. “Did she just invite us to walk through her legs to her grove?”

– Our tanks haaaaate Varimathras — since basically their job is to STAND ABSOLUTELY STILL, occasionally taunt, and become unhealable for 7 seconds at a time. We had a few awkward wipes at first, as they worked to get the positioning right; now it’s just a boring tank and spank.

(I didn’t believe the Fatboss guides when they called it a “Patchwerk-style fight”; those don’t exist any more, really. But while it does have SOME mechanics, if you’re not a tank your job is basically to move between two spots on the floor and heal or dps. If you’re not a melee dps, that’s pretty much all you need to worry about on Normal).

– “I guess we’re all just disappointed that Varimathras wasn’t Jaina.” “So Blizz made this fight even more disappointing?”

– On the contrary, our tanks looooove the Aggramar fight, mostly due to the wacky Taeshalach maneuver.

LARP
– Attended Kaleidoscopic Consequences in Christchurch, Dorset, UK
– Played in “Volcano’s Edge” at Consequences
– Played in “The Final Cut” at Consequences

Travel/Social – all in London
– Visited the Victoria & Albert Museum with Kim and Dave
– Visited the Natural History Museum
– Walked around Vauxhall, Lambeth, and Battersea
– Visited Battersea Park
– Took a hop-on hop-off bus tour of London
– Visited the Science Museum
– Visited the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park
– Had dinner at the Morpeth Arms (this “spy pub” on Atlas Obscura)
– Had dinner with Brian W, Kim and Dave near Victoria tube station

The maple tree in front of my house, in one of those rare moments when my yard didn’t look like a dump.

There are a few places this post could begin.

I could start by noting that I have a bad case of ‘grass-is-greener’-ism. Every time I walk down a residential street, I look in the windows and think of the life I could be having there, and how it would be different from the life I lead now.

I could start by talking about my occasional fancies to move some place closer to work or hobbies. Waltham (between Matt’s work and mine), Sturbridge (close to larp sites!), and the apartment complex down the street from my office have all been entertained.

Moving is as much a state of mind as anything — admittedly, one I’ve been rotten at cultivating. It’s deliberate life design: “who am I going to be when I live here?” Our surroundings mold us as much as we form them.

Moving is also really freaking hard, on an emotional and physical level.

Maybe that’s why I’ve pushed house-related inconveniences and infelicities off as a “tomorrow problem,” dreaming of living somewhere else, rather than fixing the things that are right in front of me.

So, starting in 2018, I am moving — into my own life. I am going to do the things you do when you move: go through my crap and getting rid of what no longer suits, make our house into a comfortable place to live, and keep it that way through regular maintenance. I am going to make it the sort of place I love to spend time, instead of the kind of place I dread to come home to.

I might even try to repair our relationship with our neighbors 🙁

The nice thing is? Compared to 2006, when we bought this house, I have a lot more disposable income, and can pay people to do things I don’t want to do, or don’t have time to do. Like mow our lawn, or renovate the bathroom.

Also this doesn’t involve renting a truck or hiring movers, which I consider a win.

Brief Update

Urk. Daylight Savings Time. I’m going to blame this for the fact that I feel groggy and like everything is insurmountable today. Or maybe it’s the four weekends of larp in a row. Or maybe it’s Mondays. Anyway, have some bullet points:

Looks like I finally have a date (maybe?) for surgery for my ulnar neuropathy — next Monday! I still have no idea what time, though!

One of the electrical circuits in our house seems to be fried, post-returning from Shadowvale.

Also in post-SV funtimes news, we broke the rear windshield of the Subaru leaving site, and had to drive the 40 miles home with a seashell-patterned tablecloth over the back of the car. We avoided decidedly non-whimsical state troopers, and it’s now repaired, thankfully.

I only NPCed Friday of Mad3, in the dim hopes of getting some rest. Instead I still royally fucked up my sleep schedule, and all I have are regrets that the Emerald Baroness had to miss the Harrowing masquerade.

Other Media
– Listened to Stuff to Blow Your Mind: “MSG: Umami and Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, “Creepypasta 4: More SCP, Polybius, and Grifter,” and “The Monstrosity/Cuteness Spectrum”
– Listened to Stuff You Missed in History Class, “Carl Tanzler’s Corpse Bride”
– Watched the RiffTrax of Mind Ripper, a little-known (for good reason) Wes Craven movie
– Got the Hallowed Be Thy Name achievement in WoW
– Listened to Larpcast #101, “Staff Qualities”
– Listened to By the Book, “Bonus Episode: Season One Wrap-Up”

Health
– Had an appointment with an endocrinologist
– Took a 1.4mi walk
– Zombies Run supply run, 1.45mi in 23:02
– ZR airdrop mission, 1.67mi in 34:39 (just a walk, no running)

Picture(s) of the Week

Okay, I have to share both a Shadowvale and a Mad3 pic.

Fellow SV player Paul F (Gideon), snapped this pic of Melusina playing cool on Saturday of the event.

My new Mad3 NPC, Lady Ironwright, a Blacktallow noblewoman who was bound to a demon to save her life. The PCs got to rescue her from her demonbound captors this event. If there’s anything cuter than demon horns and a tiny hat, I’d like to know what.

Brief Update

Last week was not a great one for me in terms of productivity. Seasonal depression is sneaking in, and I’m recovering physically from two weekends of larp in a row, which means I spend a lot more time in WoW collecting candy buckets for the Halloween event, and a lot less time running or writing or whatnot.

That said, Shadowvale this past weekend was amazing, and instantly returned all my larp floon to me. More about that later, perhaps.